The Keeper of the House
by Darien Ravier
Summary: A two act piece, the first centering around Starfire trying to bring order to a now unruly Tamaran.
1. An Intrusive Brother

The Keeper of the House

By: Darien Ravier

Part I: The Fading of the Lavender Crown

Chapter 1: An Intrusive Brother

Her room flashed red and a loud siren blared that woke Starfire up from a sound sleep. This wasn't the alarm that called her and her friends the Teen Titans into action, this was the alarm that let them know someone had broken into their home. Within seconds, Starfire sprung out of her bed as she prepared for a battle. "The control room," Starfire thought, "That's where Robin said to go when the alarm for intruders was heard." Starfire levitated over towards her front door and pressed the code for the door to open. Starfire flew intensely down the hall as she made her way through the maze of hallways. She quickly rounded every sharp corner, not even skipping a beat to check if anyone was in front of her. If the intruder happened to be in front of her, she would be ready to fight. No one threatened Starfire's home and she would stand up to anyone that did. Starfire had just begun to call Earth her home after living there almost half of her life and one thing she holds dear to herself is the place she calls home. It was the comfort of a home she liked because she never knew where her real home was. Yes, her Kanorfka, Galfor, raised her as a princess on her home planet, Tamaran, but she always wondered who her real parents were. They had abandoned her at such an early age and the only family she knew was her evil sister, Blackfire.

Yes, Starfire's home was very important to her, so important that as these thoughts raced through her head, she failed to see the figure in front of her as she rounded the corner and flew head first into the figure, knocking them both to the ground. Starfire, ignoring the pain in her shoulder from the collision, quickly rose to her feet, Starbolts in hand, ready to fire, as she yelled, "Depart from our home, guest who has not been invited!" "Starfire, it's Cyborg," said a familiar urban voice that caused Starfire's to fizzle the starbolts in her hands. "Oh, Cyborg. Uh, I guess the bad is mine?" Cyborg had to smile at her attempt to speak Earth slang, but he quickly grabbed her wrist as he ran towards the control room, "Come on, Star, we've got to book!" And with that, Starfire flew behind Cyborg as they raced to the control room, which was only one staircase and three hallways away. "Cyborg, do you know who has entered our home," Starfire asked as they entered the control room. Cyborg stopped in his tracks as he stared in front of himself in disbelief. "Don't know what it is," Cyborg said, answering Starfire's question, "but it left a pretty big hole in our wall." In front of Starfire and Cyborg were their other friends, Beast Boy, Raven, and Robin, the three who made up the rest of the Teen Titans, who were also staring at the rather sizeable hole in the wall that stood in front of them. They could clearly make out the seagulls that flew over the ocean that lay in front of them.

"Guess our control room has a new ocean view," Raven said in her usual monotone voice. Starfire approached Robin, who was standing in front of a monitor, typing on the keyboard. "Robin," she asked, "who could have done such a thing?" Robin looked at the monitor, "Cameras couldn't capture a good picture, but look at this." The Titans watched in disbelief as the monitor shows the wall being decimated by an outside force, which entered and began flying around, looking for something. Beast Boy looked at the screen and said, "Guess the concept of doorbells is beyond this guy." Robin, having assessed the situation in his head, spoke up. "There is only one of him and five of us, I suggest we stick together so we overtake him by strength of numbers." Starfire chimed in, "Agreed, we would have a much better chance as a group." Starfire always agreed with Robin. His leadership and strength won her over as an ally, but is was the warmth he showed for his friends that won him a place in her heart. Starfire had always carried a torch for Robin, but she dared not act on her feelings because of her fear that it would threaten her home and place with her friends. For as much as she believed in acting on her feelings, it was her feeling of safety that outweighed her feelings of affection. Still, she watched in admiration as Robin scanned the tower with the security system to find the intruder. Within seconds, he spotted a flying blur of light. Robin yelled out, "There, in the gymnasium. Titans, move out!" With that call of action, the five friends prepared for a fight as their friend Raven threw a black shield around the group and transporting them up five floors instantly.

Within seconds, the Teen Titans stood face to face with a very tall, cloaked figure, who himself prepared for a fight upon seeing the Titans. He pointed his hand and a deadly bolt flew out at the Titans, causing them to scatter. Cyborg dove to the floor, aimed his sonic cannon arm at the intruder, and fired at his chest. The blast hit the intruder, but did not even stop him from rushing at Cyborg and tossing him through a nearby wall. Cyborg tried to find his footing as he said to himself, "Guy's pretty strong." Back in the gymnasium, Beast Boy transformed himself into a Stegosaurus and swiped at the intruder with his heavily spiked tail. The intruder dodged the swipes and eventually caught the Stegosaurus' tail and tossed him out the same wall he just tossed Cyborg out of, causing the two to crash into each other. Beast Boy lay on the ground with spirals in his eyes as Cyborg moaned, "Guy's really strong," right before he passed out. The intruder watched to make sure the two didn't get up, but wasn't watching as a massive barbell encased in black came crashing into his back. He turned around to see Raven using her mind to pick up various weights and tossing them at the intruder. The cloaked intruder leaned side to side quickly, even levitating in the air acrobatically to dodge the oncoming weights. Raven tried not to let her frustration overtake her. Her powers were only strengthened through having her emotions controlled. One slip, one angry thought, even one profanity would cause her powers to lose control and put her friends and herself at risk. But this guy was really getting to her with his dodging everything Raven was throwing at him, now he's signaling her to throw more stuff at him. "Insolent bastard," thought Raven as she picked up the heaviest dumbbell next to her with her mind and heaved it at the cloaked intruder, who caught the heavy weight with his hand and with blinding speed, hurled it at Raven, who tried to react quickly and put an energy shield up. The dumbbell only broke through the shield and connected with Raven as she plummeted to the ground. Before the intruder had time to react, a metal staff collided with his back. The intruder drew back in pain, but was over it quickly as he turned around to see Robin flying towards him, extending a powerful kick towards the intruder's head. All the intruder did was raise his left arm to the side of his head and the kick was blocked, but before Robin had the time to draw his foot back, the intruder grabbed his foot and was tried to toss him towards a wall. Robin wasn't going down so easily as he flipped in midair, landing his feet on the wall, and then using it as a springboard to propel himself back at the intruder. The intruder was instantly put on the defensive as Robin unleashed a barrage of kung fu punches and kicks that were easily matched by the intruder. Robin threw a back spinning crescent kick at the intruder's head, who ducked the violent kick, but Robin used this distraction to his advantage as he unsheathed his metal staff again and swung at the intruder, this time, connecting with his midsection, causing him to double over, gasping for air. Robin used this time to swing his staff upwards, connecting with a deadly uppercut with his staff on the intruder's chin, lifting him off of his feet and sending him soaring in the air. Robin was using this moment of helplessness to his advantage and before the intruder could come to the ground, Robin punched downward at his chest, sending him crashing through the floor. Robin looked down the hole to see where the intruder had gone to, but didn't see him coming up through the floor behind him and swinging both fists at his head, knocking Robin out cold.

The intruder looked around at his accomplishments, having taken out four of the Teen Titans all on his own was quite a feat within itself. However, where was the fifth one? As the intruder swung his head around to look, his face was hit with a powerful green blast of energy that knocked him off of his feet. Starfire flew at the hooded intruder with such rage that when she collided with him, it lifted him off of his feet and through not just the ceiling, but at least four levels of the ceiling onto the roof. The intruder landed on the cement ceiling with a hard **thud**! Starfire, floating in midair with eyes glowing solid green with no hint of pupils behind them and starbolts in her hands, ready to fire, calls out, "Intruder, show your identity to me so that I may understand why you attacked my friends!" The hooded figure looked up at Starfire and said, "Koriannd'r." The sound of this alien word made the pupils in Starfire's eyes return. "Who are you," Starfire asked, "How did you learn of that name?" The figure removed the hood from over his head, revealing a handsome red-haired man with yellow tinted skin. He was clearly a Tamaranian like Starfire. "Koriannd'r, have you forgotten your brother, R'yannd'r, already?"

Back inside, R'yannd'r sat on the couch in front of the Titans as they stared at him condemningly. "I am sorry that I attacked you all and put a giant hole in the wall of your home. I was still under the impression that my sister was being held captive." Robin said disbelievingly, "And why would you be under that impression?" R'yannd'r explained, "You see, my sister and I were separated at a very difficult time for our planet. There had been a civil war and to make sure that our family was safe, our mother and father had sent us away so that we would be safe. They made sure that we would have everything we would need to be safe. But we were separated and I was smuggled to the swamp moons of Drenthax 9 to keep myself safe. I had heard that my sister was taken prisoner and vowed that when I had gotten older I would come to rescue her, no matter where she was. It is very relieving to see you again, Koriannd'r." Starfire looked at her feet, "You must understand, for a very long time now, I did not know that I had a brother. This is all very hard to accept." Cyborg massaged his shoulder and said, "Well, you're definitely as strong as Starfire." R'yannd'r explained, "It was a gift from the Psions. From their experiment, the offspring of M'yannd'r and Luand'r would be able to protect themselves in their absence." Starfire looked at her hands and suddenly, a sea of memories began to flood in her mind. Through it all, Starfire remembered her brother's embrace as they ventured into unknown territories. "R'yannd'r," Starfire said softly, then her giddy self came out, "MY BROTHER!!!" as she flew into R'yannd'r's arms and embraced him warmly. R'yannd'r looked at Starfire and said, "Come, my sister, there is much that we need to catch up on. Is there a place where we can both converse in a more personal environment?" Starfire thinks for a while and then says, "Oh, there is the local park. It is commonly where Earthlings go to munch on the fat." R'yannd'r looked at her sister oddly before she grabbed his hand and flew with him outside. Robin stared at the two suspiciously, then turned to Raven, asking, "So, did you pick anything up?" Raven opened her eyes and said, "Can't say. I definitely feel the presence of a blood relative, but I'm also picking up something else nearby. Something more dangerous." Robin asked, "But her brother is here?" Raven nodded her head as Robin said to himself, "Then he will protect her."

Starfire and R'yannd'r walk through the park. R'yannd'r looks around in awe at the sights around him and said, "So, this is the Earth that I have heard so much about. There is so much beauty here and it is so gloriously bright." Starfire giggled and replied, "Yes, I have grown to love it myself. So tell me, R'yannd'r, what news is there of Tamaran?" R'yannd'r replied, "Oh, Starfire, since you have left Emperor Galfor in charge, things could not be better. He has brought peace to his kingdom and the southern states, he has divided the wealth among the nations so the poor would be prosperous, so many glorious things he has done." Starfire said, "I knew that he would make a magnificent ruler. Tell me, when can I see him?" R'yannd'r said nothing as he kept walking. "Brother," Starfire asked, "When can I see my Kanorfka?" R'yannd'r looked around, then at Starfire, saying, "Is there a place more private that we can talk?" Starfire led R'yannd'r into a more secluded part of the woods. Starfire looked at her brother with a worried look in her eyes and asked, "Why can I not see Galfor?" R'yannd'r took Starfire by the hand and explained, "Koriannd'r, though Galfor's reign is glorious, there are those who are unhappy with his ruling of the planet. Many have even gone as far as blaming you for leaving him in charge. Galfor had sent me here to warn you that if you were to return to Tamaran, there would be people there who would try to take your life." Starfire gasped, "Then we must set things right, brother. We must return and…" R'yannd'r grabbed Starfire's wrist and said, "Sister, haven't you been listening, it is dangerous to return to Tamaran. In fact, the best thing for you to do is…" At that moment, a deadly bolt shot down from the sky right between Starfire and R'yannd'r, separating them. Starfire looked up to see another yellow skinned Tamaranian charging towards them. Starfire was about to take off when R'yannd'r flew up at the approaching aggressor and attacked him with full force. Starbolts flew and punches were thrown as the two aliens fought in the sky. Starfire watched from the ground as her brother fought the man who attacked them both. The man landed one punch on her brother that sent him flying backwards. As he did, the aggressor flew towards Starfire. Starfire, fearing for her life, flew through the maze of tree branches in order to evade the oncoming Tamaranian. Starfire turned around and fired a starbolt at a branch above her, which she ducked and instead came crashing down on her pursuiter. The Tamaranian came crashing to the ground. Starfire turned around and was about to charge after him when R'yannd'r came out from the sky and attacked him. The Tamaranian shot the branch off of the top of him and shot R'yannd'r, sending him backwards into a tree. The two threw endless amounts of starbolts at each other. Meanwhile, Starfire stood watching this fight, watching this man attack her brother who she had just met today. She remembered everything that came back to her and how much more she wanted to know. All the questions she had about her past that she wanted answered and if her brother died, they would never be answered. The rage built up in Starfire's eyes as the pupils once again disappeared behind a sea of green flames. Starfire then let loose a concussive blast of energy from her eyes that knocked the aggressive Tamaranian off of his feet and on his back. Starfire stood over this new Tamaranian and said, "You will leave my brother alone." The man regained his composure and looked up at Starfire asking, "What did you say?" With a stern tone in her voice, Starfire said, "I know you have been sent here to kill my brother and myself and I will not allow you to do so." The Tamaranian looked up at Starfire and said, "Starfire, _I_ am your brother." Starfire grew more angry, "How dare you! Do you think that you can fool me?!" The Tamaranian pleaded, "No, Koriannd'r, please, you must listen to me!" Starfire said, "You would pretend to be my brother?!" Just then, the cold metal of a gun barrel pressed against Starfire's head as the man she thought to be her brother stood behind her, holding a gun to her saying, "No, I would pretend to be your brother. And now you will die."

To Be Continued…


	2. Gift From the Psions

The Keeper of the House

By: Darien Ravier

Part I: The Fading of the Lavender Crown

Chapter 2: Gift From the Psions

Starfire hated guns. The few memories that she has of her childhood were of being separated from her parents while being surrounded by Tamaranian guns. Now the man she thought to have been her brother was aiming one right at her head. She saw the man's finger on the trigger begin to twitch and with less than split second timing, she was able to fly out of the way of the gun barrel before it fired. Hovering in midair, she looked down on the would-be assassin as he stares in confusion at nothing.

Starfire knew she didn't have a moment to think as she fired a scalding starbolt at the man's hand, knocking the gun out of it. As the man grabbed his hand through the searing pain, she flew down and grabbed him by his collar and hoisted him up in the air. Starfire yelled at the man, "You have lied to me and betrayed me in the most disrespectful manner I can think of, you Thelnian Globrivatz! Who are you!"

"I'm nobody, really," the assassin answered, "Just a man sent to do a job."

"For what job were you sent," Starfire asked, "And who sent you."

"Someone. And that someone wanted you dead."

The man created a starbolt with his hand and hit Starfire in the ribs with it, sending her reeling in the air from the pain and dropping him in the process. The man caught himself in mid air and began to fly when a series of starbolts came from the ground and all hitting the fleeing would-be assassin. This time, he plummeted to the ground. Starfire regained her composure to see her brother standing over the assassin, who was lying on his back. Her brother looked at him once and fired a starbolt at his head, killing him. Starfire flew towards the ground, pulling her brother away from the body. "What are you doing, brother?" Starfire asked in a state of shock over what she had just seen her brother do. "Why did you murder this man?"

"I am sorry, sister," R'yannd'r said, "but this man was dangerous and needed to be dealt with."

"But murder is no way to deal with a problem," Starfire pleaded.

"Sister, much has changed on Tamaran since you have left," R'yannd'r explained.

Starfire knew what her brother was talking about. It had been almost two years since her betrothal on Tamaran, which had been arranged by her sister, who had taken control of the Tamaranian throne and attempted to do away with her sister by marrying her away. Blackfire was able to make this possible by creating the illusion that Tamaran was being attacked by a foreign army and the only way to create peace would be to marry Starfire off. Starfire learned of this treachery and fought back against her sister in a violent battle over the crown. Starfire emerged victorious, but she chose to relinquish her crown to her Kanorfka, Galfor, who had many great plans for Tamaran.

"Brother, what has happened to our home," Starfire asked, "What has happened to Tamaran?"

"It is why I came here, sister," R'yannd'r said, "There is much trouble. Since Galfor came to the throne, he had set out to accomplish many wonderful things. He wanted to do away with poverty by sharing the nation's wealth and bring peace to warring colonies of the planet. Many were for this period of bliss, but there were still some who were unhappy with his decisions. Soon, they began to gather and protest against his rule. Then the protests became violent. Soon, they had a small army on their hands and began to recruit more and more people. Now, Tamaran stands divided among two races, those loyal to Galfor and the royal bloodline, namely ours and those…those who would have us dead."

"X'hal, no," Starfire said, "This is terrible."

"That's not the half of it," R'yannd'r went on, "For the past year, the entire planet has been at war with itself. The army has not only been killing those loyal to Galfor, but they've been hunting down anyone of the original bloodline of the Annd'r family. That means myself, you, our other sister, and our parents."

"But, R'yannd'r," Starfire interceded, "our parents have been dead for quite some time, so it is only you and I."

"No, Koriannd'r," R'yannd'r said, "Our parents have been alive as long as we have."

"But they died," Starfire said with such assurance, "I remember them perishing in the upheaval."

"We were all lead to believe that they had died so no one would seek them or us out. They live, sister, and they sent me to make sure you didn't come back to Tamaran and put yourself in danger."

Starfire remained silent as she looked up at the sky towards Tamaran. She knew the journey well and knew her way back home. Even as she looked up at the familiar path, she could sense the distress from the many light years away. She could feel that there was something wrong with her home and it pained her to think about it. After thinking for a moment, she turned to her brother and said confidently, "R'yannd'r, how can you stand here and tell me that my parents are not only alive, but living in a place that would have their blood for their own enjoyment and expect me to not want to return?" R'yannd'r let out a heavy sigh because he knew that there would be no talking his sister out of this journey.

"You're not going," Robin said. Starfire knew that is what his answer would have been, since he had always sought after his team's protection and that one member was asking to venture into certain danger. Starfire explained, "I am not asking for permission, I am telling you where I am going."

"And I said you're not going," Robin said, "Starfire, like it or not, you're part of this team and if one of us goes somewhere dangerous, we're all going."

"Robin, this is not your fight, this is mine," Starfire said.

"I agree," Raven seconded from the background, "What is happening on another planet is no concern of ours. If they come here, then we shall deal with them. But if this is between her people, then it should only involve her people."

"I'm with her," said Beast Boy, much to everyone's surprise. The Titans, even R'yannd'r turned his head at this statement. Beast Boy walked over, stood next to Starfire, looked at everyone assuredly and said, "I mean, yeah, this is junk that's happening on Tamaran and not Earth, but still, Starfire's our friend and we should stand by our friends, right?"

Cyborg raised one eyebrow at Beast Boy and remarked, "Hate to say it but the little green barrel of monkeys has a point. So does Robin. Starfire's our friend and what happens to our friend happens to us." Cyborg walks over to Starfire, saying, "I'm with you, too, Star." Robin walked over and put his hand on Starfire's shoulder. "What made you think you'd go anywhere without me backing you up?" Starfire smiled at this gesture that her friends have made for her. The four Titans looked back at Raven, who, to no one's surprise, was emotionless as she chimed in, "It's still a war, a pointless fight over frayed ideals, hardly worth my or anyone's time." She thought for a moment, then blew a strand of her hair back onto her head as she said, "Fine, I'll go." Starfire reached out and hugged Raven, exclaiming, "Oh, thank you, friend Raven. I will forever be in your debt!"

"You can pay me back by never hugging me again," Raven said through a squished face.

As the T-ship glided through the Centarui galaxy, Starfire looked out of the window with a troubled mind. So many questions were running through her mind about herself, her home, her parents, even the assassin that tried to kill her. Lucky for her, the man who could answer many of these questions happened to float into Starfire's chamber.

"Something is troubling you, sister?" R'yannd'r asked.

"That man who wanted me dead," Starfire asked, "who was he?"

"An experiment. And not a well made one at that," R'yannd'r explained puzzlingly.

"An experiment," Starfire wondered, "what kind of experiment was he?"

"Why, one of us, sister. A child of Psion."

"Who is the Psion?"

"The Psions, actually. They're a group scientists who had given us our powers."

"But I thought that all Tamaranians had this kind of strength on Earth, much like how Superman gets his powers from the Earth's yellow sun."

"That is true, but you also have those powers on Tamaran while others are merely average the way that humans are on Earth."

"I still do not understand," Starfire said with a look of despair on her face. "Please, tell me as much as you can so that I may better understand what has happened to my beloved Tamaran."

"Okay, do you remember when we were separated from our parents," R'yannd'r asked, hoping this would trigger something in Starfire's memory.

Starfire closed her eyes and vividly remembered the only memory she could recall.

"Yes, I remember many guns between my mother and myself," Starfire said with a tear forming in her eye.

"Those guns were royal guards, making sure that no one saw you being taken from your parents. This all started back during the great rebellion of the southern states."

"Yes," Starfire said, snapping to attention, "Galfor had spoke to me about that."

"Well, the southern states wished to rise up against your parents," R'yannd'r explained, "Your parents knew that we would be targets for the uprising army, so they sought out a group of scientists that would ensure that their children would never be defenseless against any army that would try to attack them. They had experimented with other Tamaranians before, most were unsuccessful, but they had mastered three abilities: flight, incredible strength and the ability to harness light and turn it into a deadly weapon."

"My starbolts," Starfire said, looking at her hands.

"Yes, but the Psions knew that any trace of experimentation would key off outsiders to your enhancements, so they planned everything around the Tamaranian lifecycle. That's why you had to go through transformation before you could earn your laser eyes. Your flight was given to you at a young age, so was your strength."

"Galfor had always told me that all infants could fly and that my feelings of boundless confidence and righteous fury would trigger my abilities," Starfire said, trying to find an explanation for something she thought was so ordinary for her people.

"Galfor was a trusted advisor for your parents," R'yannd'r clarified, "They knew he would protect you at all costs, but the one thing they asked of him was that you be raised like a normal Tamaranian."

"This is all too much," Starfire thought, "I always thought I was abnormal on Earth, now I find out that I am different on my own planet."

"Surely, you do remember some now, right," R'yannd'r said.

Starfire thought back on her one memory, then it all came to her. Being held in her father's arms as her brother and sister were led down a long spiral staircase. She remembered voices, but she was too young to know what they were saying, so she could only remember their tone. There was a frantic urgency in it that made her uneasy, but then her mom broke into tears and hugged her intensely. She began to cry as she remembered crying as she was pulled from her mother's arms and led down a long hallway. She remembered looking back and crying, "Mama! Mama," but her mother was only crying in her father's arms. The next part was a blur as she was rushed into a vehicle that rocketed through underground tunnels. The next memory she could then recall was being on a cold table as green liquid bubbled all around her in various flasks. Strange men in leathery coats stood in front of her, trying to sound sympathetic as they approached her with prodding instruments that would inject the various bubbling serum into her. She cried again, "Mama! Papa!" as the painfully hot liquid entered her young body. Starfire stopped remembering that one, for as she did, all of the pain came back to her and she didn't want to relive it again. She then remembers being in a throne room as Galfor was talking to a very princely figure. Behind Starfire was a crushed statue. Yes, she remembered she thought it was a giant doll and tried to play with it. She lifted it up from its marble column and had swung it around like it was one of her dolls. But then the princely figure (her teacher, yes, it was her teacher and she was at school!) startled her and she dropped the statue. She knew she was in trouble when Galfor was called in, but she didn't think it would lead to what happened in her next memory. Starfire was sitting in a rocket ship, looking back at Galfor with tears in her eyes, begging not to be left again. She then remembered Galfor's words to her, "Koriannd'r, no one ever really leaves you. They are always with you as long as you remember what you want to remember about them. Hold onto only the memories you want to because they will make you who you want to become." Starfire instantly stopped crying, flew up and gave Galfor the biggest hug she could ever give a person.

Starfire opened her eyes and realized that it was with those words that Galfor had helped her to ignore the pain in her past and remember only what she wanted to, which is what she was able to stay so happy all of the time. Just then, Cyborg announced over the intercom, "Yo, Tamaran's coming up in five minutes. So get your butts in their seats so we can land, get this over with and go home in time for some waffles!" Starfire smiled, took a deep breath, looked back at her brother and said, "Come, brother, I am ready to go home now."

"Oh, X'hal, what has happened," Starfire gasped in horror as the T-ship glided over the forest terrain of Tamaran, which has been either leveled or reduced to cinders. Below, she saw villages burned to the ground while their families wander through the rubble, looking for other family members. It broke Starfire's heart to see that much of the beautiful Tamaran she remembered had become a demilitarized zone. She then caught sight of something that made her scream through her earpiece, "Land this ship immediately!" Cyborg, having pulled the earpiece away from his ear, looked below for a landing space and saw an army surrounding a small tribe. Instead of landing, Cyborg took an offensive position with the ship and asked R'yannd'r, "Which ones are our enemies?"

R'yannd'r responded, "The army with more soldiers."

That was all Cyborg needed to hear as he swooped down and fired on the opposing army. Once the army saw this ship attack them, they scattered to find some hiding places. Robin got over the intercom, saying, "Titans, on my mark, Raven and Beast Boy, take the opposing flanks, Cyborg, you take out their stronger weapons, Starfire, you…"

Starfire had already left the ship and was tearing the giant guns apart with her bare hands, tying the barrels in knots and breaking them over her knees. The army tried to fire at her, but she turned to face each of the soldiers with such speed that they couldn't even aim properly. Within seconds, Starfire unleashed a hail of starbolts at each of their weapons, melting them in their hands. The army stood petrified as they looked up at this new opposing foe, who was hovering in midair before them with green bolts of fire in her hands and eyes glowing green. "Surrender now, villains of Tamaran," Starfire yelled, to which the army only responded by turning and running into the woods. Starfire was about to fly after them when R'yannd'r called out, "Starfire, let them go. Someone here wants to talk to you." Starfire turned around to look at who had called her. Instantly, her eyes widened with joy as she flew like a lightning bolt across the sky into the arms of her Kanorfka, Galfor.

"Oh, Galfor, I am overjoyed to see that you are not injured!"

"Precious, Koriannd'r, it is good to see you too," Galfor said, sharing the sentiment with Starfire as they hugged.

"You should not have come, Koriannd'r," Galfor began to say, when R'yannd'r cut him off by saying, "I tried to warn her, but she learned the truth."

"About her past?" Galfor asked. R'yannd'r nodded his head. Galfor let out a heavy sigh. "Starfire, now your enemies know you are here and know of your powers. There is a great force driving this rebellion. Something that none of our powers could control. I'm afraid that force will now come after you."

"I do not care," Starfire said earnestly, "I just want to be with my family again."

Galfor then said, "Then perhaps it is finally time that you return to your parents, Starfire."

To Be Continued…


	3. Bittersweet Homecoming

The Keeper of the House

By: Darien Ravier

Part I: The Fading of the Lavender Crown

Chapter 3: Bittersweet Homecoming

"Dude, she wouldn't stand a chance," Beast Boy said as the T-ship flew across the war torn Tamaran on their way to meet Starfire's parents. Cyborg was in the pilot's seat, following Galfor and his army, who were flying in a stealth ship in front of the Teen Titans' ship. Cyborg was concentrating so he could keep a safe distance behind the Tamaranian ship, but his attention was now focused on his argument with Beast Boy as he quickly shot back, "And I'm telling you she would."

"You're trying to tell me that Wonder Woman would take the Green Lantern," Beast Boy said argumentatively.

"Definitely," Cyborg replied assuredly.

"No way," Beast Boy argued, "I mean, the dude can make anything with that ring."

"But he can't fight against yellow," Cyborg said, "And she's practically made out of yellow. Yellow wristcuffs, yellow tiara, yellow on her uniform, the girl even has a yellow lasso."

"Dude, no way. It's golden, it's not the same thing as yellow," Beast Boy said.

"Even if they were gold," Cyborg said, "She's an Amazon warrior. She's trained to fight against those kind of things."

"Raven," Beast Boy spoke over the headpiece, "Tell Cyborg that he's out of his mind."

"Don't even get me involved with your little boyish games," Raven said nonchalantly, as she always did whenever Cyborg and Beast Boy would argue over their fantasy superhero fight games. "It's bad enough that I have to hear about a fight in the middle of a war," Raven thought to herself. She didn't want to say that comment out loud because her friend, Starfire, was experiencing the war first hand. It was her planet being torn apart from the inside. And though Raven didn't agree with participating in a war that she wasn't involved in, Raven didn't want to offend her friend. Besides, she also couldn't deny the suffering that the many Tamarans were experiencing below their ship as it rocketed across the sky towards Galfor's citadel, which used to be a symbol of power for Tamaran, but now stood as a refugee camp for Galfor and his supporters. Even all around them, other small spacecraft were taking off towards the stars, abandoning their homes and taking to the stars. "They would rather live as nomads than on their own planet," Raven thought to herself. She could no longer deny the change that Starfire's planet had undergone in the short time since they had left their planet as she looked at Starfire to see how she was handling the situation. Starfire had her eyes closed and her head was hanging down towards her feet.

"You okay, Star," Robin sympathetically said over the intercom. Starfire's eyes shot open as she looked forward.

"Yes, I am most okay, I…" Starfire's voice trailed off as her eyes opened to see her planet once again. Below her, she saw an entire village on fire with the survivors pulling their family members' bodies from the wreckage. Just a few miles further, she saw a large number of bodies that lay on a battlefield from a war that couldn't have been any more than a few hours old. The usual joy in her eyes quickly disappeared as she let her true feelings out, "Oh, Robin, I can not help but think that I should have stayed. After I had defeated my sister for the crown, I should have stayed as the empress."

Robin said, "Starfire, you did what you thought was right. There was no way you could have seen this coming."

"I should have at least done something other than run away," Starfire said.

"Hey, team," Cyborg called out, "we're here."

The Titans all looked ahead of them as Galfor's stealth ship flew into an underground hanger that opened up from the ground on the side of the citadel's wall. As they looked up from the hanger at the citadel, they no longer saw the same majesty as when they first approached it. It was now cracked from numerous attacks, the paint was peeling from being unkempt, and many sections were broken off. Still, the Titans followed Galfor's ship down the tunnel in the ground. Unbeknownst to them, a few torches were being lit behind the tree line surrounding the citadel.

The tunnel of the hanger was a steep decent downwards, which seemed to last forever until they finally saw the ground, which Cyborg angled the T-Ship so it could land smoothly on the surface. In front of them, Galfor and his subjects were already off of their ship and waiting the Titans' arrival. As the Titans walked off of the ship, they looked around in marvel at the other numerous ships that were in the hanger. Beast Boy remarked, "Planning an air show?" Galfor looked at the ships and remarked, "They are Tamaranian attack ships. If situations arose that were truly grave, then we would dispatch these ships against our enemies, who are unaware of their presence."

Starfire walked off the platform and towards Galfor, saying, "Please, Kanorfka Galfor, I wish to see my parents now." Galfor looked around to make sure the area was secure, then at R'yannd'r, who nodded at Galfor, then turned to Starfire, saying, "We will be together shortly, sister. Maybe together our family can work something out for Tamaran." Meanwhile, Galfor was instructing the warriors around him to disperse. Once the warriors had left, Galfor gave the hanger another look around before approaching Starfire and saying, "You may follow me, but your friends must stay behind." Starfire turned to the other Titans when Robin said, "It's okay, Starfire. We'll keep watch over the citadel." As the Titans turned around to walk upstairs, Galfor led Starfire towards the nearest wall, explaining, "Starfire, your parents never really left the citadel when they fled. They always wanted to stay as close as they could to their daughter." With that, Galfor pulled a section of the pipe towards him, revealing a hidden stairwell inside the ground. Starfire followed Galfor down the dark stairwell.

As Starfire and Galfor walked down the winding stairwell, Galfor explained, "Though they knew they had to abandon their children for their own safety and themselves flee, they still wanted to remain as close to you as they could. So they chose the only haven that they knew of where no one would find them and they could also be close to their beloved daughter and brother." Galfor then walked towards another wall, reached his hand into a hole, then pulled a release lever that opened the wall in front of Starfire. Within seconds, two spears came at her head, which she quickly ducked under, rolled under the spears into the room, then turned towards her attackers, who turned out to be two towering armored warriors, who lunged at Starfire. She noticed the one on the left bringing his spear down at her, so she grabbed the weapon and threw him across the room. The other waited until her back was turned before he struck Starfire in her back. She cried out in pain momentarily before swinging around and blasting the warrior with a power blast from her laser eyes. The warrior flew across the ground. Starfire flew over to him, grabbed him by the collar and yelled, "Why are you here! Where are my mother and father!"

"Koriannd'r," said a voice from the background as Starfire turned her head to see an older and very regally dressed couple. Starfire stood up and said, "Mother? Father?"

"Yes, Koriannd'r," the woman spoke, "It is good to finally see you again."

She put the abandonment aside her, she put the tragedy of her planet behind her, and she aside the fact that she had few memories of these people claiming to be her parents and flew over to the couple and embraced them warmly. She wept as she hugged her parents, saying, "I have waited for this moment for so long."

Starfire's father, Myand'r, held her tighter to him and said, "So have we, my sweet daughter."

"It is good to have you back with us again, Koriannd'r," asked her mother, Luand'r, between sobs.

Starfire stepped back from the warm embrace that she had longed for her whole life since she could remember and looked her parents in the eyes and said, "I know why it was that you had to abandon me." However, just remembering that day causes tears to rise in Starfire's eyes as she turned away from her parents so they wouldn't see her if she cried.

"Koriannd'r," Myand'r said walking closer to her, "it is a decision that has haunted us since that day. Giving away our children to insure their safety was the most difficult decision that your mother and I ever had to make."

"I understand," Starfire said, but she still couldn't put into words that no matter how much she understood, their absence in her life was still very painful.

"Yet, you are still angry," Myand'r said, still able to read his daughter.

"I wish I had a chance to know you," Starfire said, "to have you with me when I needed you. During my transformation, even when Blackfire took over Tamaran."

"Koriannd'r, as much as we wanted to protect and comfort you through all of your troubled times," Myand'r tried to explain, "If we were to show ourselves, our enemies would have murdered us and you."

"We did not want to take that risk, daughter," Luand'r chimed in.

"But, father, you are the true leader of Tamaran," Starfire interceded, "You are bound to have enemies no matter what you do."

"Koriannd'r," Luand'r replied, "our decision was for your safety."

"And I am safe," Starfire said, "but Tamaran is not. They need their true king to fight for them. Not to hide."

Starfire realized that what she said was out of line by watching their parents step back.

"This planet was on the verge of tearing itself apart," Myand'r said, "Whether I was here as a ruler or not would not chance that. I did more help by hiding than by staying."

"How do you know father," Starfire asked, "how do you know that this planet was better off without you without even trying? How do you know that you couldn't help? How do I know that, father? I don't even know you well enough to stand up for you."

Everything was out now: the hurt, the abandonment, and the anger. Starfire wished she could have taken it back as she broke down crying on the floor. Myand'r still walked over and placed his hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"I did not know what the future had in store for Tamaran," Myand'r said, "just as I didn't know that the future had in store for you. I saw great things happen for you, my dear Koriannd'r. You became a hero on another world, you defeated a tyrant that threatened your home, and you've grown up to become a powerful woman. I do regret that I was not there for these things instead of being isolated in this room, with my wife being the only thing I loved that I was able to keep with me. If things were different, I would have spent every moment I could with you. I still love you, daughter."

Starfire turned around to look into her father's eyes, which were filled with more love than she had ever seen. She then saw her mother walking up to her father's side, saying, "We are so proud to see the woman that you've become." Starfire's eyes filled with tears as she regretted the horrible things she has said out of her own pain.

"Forgive me," Starfire said, breaking down in her parents' arms, which embraced her.

"For what," Luand'r asked, confused.

"I have said such unkind things to you both," Starfire said, "I should not have been so rude. I ruined what should have been a joyous moment for us. Please forgive me."

"Of course we forgive you," Myand'r said.

"You are our daughter," Luand'r said, "and we love you so very much."

Starfire just sat there, embracing her parents in a moment that seemed to last forever.

"But you are right about one thing, daughter," Myand'r said, "Tamaran does need its true king right now."

Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven were all standing on the balcony of the citadel, looking out over the terrain of Tamaran. Cyborg and Beast Boy were still arguing.

"Okay, maybe if she didn't have her lasso and bracelets," Cyborg conceded, "The Green Lantern might…MIGHT take her, but she is still pretty darn powerful."

Beast Boy shook his head, "No way, I remember hearing about this one story, where the Lantern went back to the planet of the other Green Lanterns an defeated all of them and took all their powers into his ring, so now he's got this super advanced ring that nothing can defeat it."

"You're just partial to him because he's green," Cyborg said.

"Hey, so what if he is," Beast Boy said, "It's cool to hear about a tough green superhero that isn't a turtle."

"Of course, this conversation would be completely different if we included Superman."

"Hey, he's easily the most powerful member of the Justice League. Anyone that comes back from the dead, I am not messing with."

Robin simply laughed at this argument because he knew first hand who the strongest Justice League member was. In fact, he was trained by him. Since he found the whole argument pointless, he walked over to Raven, who was intensely looking in the tree line.

"What do you see, Raven," Robin asked.

"I don't see anything," Raven replied, "But I can feel them."

"Where," Robin asked, looking around.

"In the woods. They're about to attack."

Robin turned to R'yannd'r and said, "R'yannd'r, there's an army ready too…"

W-h-o-o-s-s-h-h-h!

A laser cannon shot right past Robin's head and impacted on the wall of the citadel, punching a giant hole in it. Robin and R'yannd'r flew over the balcony. Both hung on with one hand as they looked back at the source of the blast. Emerging from the woods came two hundred laser cannons, all lined up in a row that seemed to surround the citadel. Robin looked over at R'yannd'r, who let go of his grip and flew down towards the lower balcony. Robin fired his grappling hook into the wall and pulled himself up. The other Titans rushed to his aid.

"Robin," Cyborg called out, "you allright?"

Robin looked back down at the approaching army, which has now doubled into fifty men lining up behind each cannon. Robin squinted his eyes, "Fine, but we can't let them into the citadel. Titans, Go!"

With that, the Teen Titans leapt off the balcony and towards the enemy that lay a hundred feet below them. The army saw the approaching heroes and began to fire their laser cannons at them. Raven used her powers to form a gliding shield underneath each team member's feet, deflecting each laser blast as they floated down towards their enemy. From behind them, a small army came charging out of the citadel to the aid of the Titans. The uprising army was taking aim at the charging army. Raven turned her head towards Robin, who simply said, "Stay on course." The uprising army was ready to fire when R'yannd'r yelled from the balcony, "Folly aim! Fire!" Then from the remaining balconies of the citadel, a massive army of gunmen arose and fired on the uprising army below, preventing them from firing on the approaching army, which met them head on and they began to battle.

Starfire heard the explosions from the bottom of the stairwell and flew towards the stairs, but stopped and looked back at her parents. The two guards stood in front of the doorway and turned towards the king and queen. Myand'r suited up, saying, "It is time the true ruler of Tamaran took back his kingdom." Myand'r and Luand'r ran up the stairs with their guards in front of them, Galfor behind them and Starfire leading the way. The path was much shorter this time around as the rush to return upstairs was much more urgent, since the number of explosions grew larger.

The battle outside was fierce. Though the Tamaranian army was fighting boldly, the uprising army had too great of numbers and was able to keep firing repeatedly at the citadel. The balconies with the follies were being knocked out one by one. When one Tamaranian soldier fought an uprising soldier, two more would attack him and three would sneak past him towards the citadel. One man stood in front of the army and yelled, "Those not fighting follow me! Follow Tharras to the citadel!" Many soldiers followed Tharras towards the citadel while the other soldiers fought off the Tamaranian army to keep them distracted. Meanwhile, the Titans did all they could to even the score.

Raven flew through the battlefield, disarming as many soldiers as she could by removing their guns and crushing them like paper wads, when one soldier fired at her, hitting her in the shoulder. She dropped to the ground and looked up to see one of the soldiers aiming right for her head. Her eyes glowed white as she waved her hand in front of her quickly, creating a shield barrier, which deflected the shot. She then used the barrier to engulf the soldier and toss him back into the woods. From behind her, two more soldiers tried to attack her with their swords. Raven waved her hands to create the shield as she deflected each attack. She then caught both swords with her hands, encased them in black and folded them like twist ties. The soldiers looked at their swords in disbelief, then at Raven as she looked at them, preparing her attack when a green stegosaurus came charging into the soldiers, lifting them high into the air.

Beast Boy was plowing the battlefield in his stegosaurus form, but all the attention drawn to him made him a quick target as a small battle line was formed to fire at the rampaging beast. When the battle line fired, Beast Boy quickly changed into a hummingbird so he could dodge each shot quickly. Once every shot missed, he turned into a bear, which he then began to swipe and attack each member. A blue sonic blast shot by Beast Boy and hit a soldier attacking him from behind. Beast Boy morphed back into his normal self and looked at Cyborg, who was aiming his arm cannon at anything that shot at him or Beast Boy. Cyborg yelled, "B.B., forget these guys, they're just a distraction! Look!" Cyborg pointed at the citadel, which was being charged by hundreds of the uprising soldiers. Beast Boy yelled, "Robin! They're storming the citadel!" Robin turned to see the soldiers entering the citadel. Robin yelled, "Titans! Tamaranians! Move in to protect the citadel!" The Tamaranian army rushed back towards the citadel and the Titans followed.

Starfire entered the hanger through the secret passage with her parents, Galfor and the two guards. A battalion of Tamaranian soldiers was rushing by when one stopped and recognized who had entered their hanger.

"King Myand'r," the soldier said, which caused all of the soldiers to stop in their tracks and bow before the emperor. Myand'r took a moment to remember what it was like to be the ruler again before he said, "Loyal soldiers of Tamaran, there will be enough time for catching up later. Now, we must protect this citadel. What is the situation?" One soldier stood up and said, "Sir, we have a massive army outside that is attacking the citadel with laser cannons. Their numbers are large, but we believe they are only to distract our army from the other uprising army that has been spotted inside the citadel." Myand'r nodded and said, "Galfor, lead one group into the attack ships and have them flank the outside army." Starfire, you lead the remaining soldiers to protect the throne room." Starfire nodded and asked, "Where will you and mother go?"

"We shall ascend to the tower to sound the beacon to call for reinforcements," Myand'r said, "Go now, we have not the time to waste."

Galfor took a group of soldiers into the attack ships and led them through the tunnel leading to the battlefield. Meanwhile, Starfire led the remaining army towards a flight of stairs, leading upwards. She turned back to see her parents entering a shielded elevator and rise up out of the room. "X'hal be with you, family," Starfire said softly to herself as she raced up the stairs.

Starfire rounded the corner with the other soldiers into the throne room. Once inside, they looked around for any members of the uprising's army. Starfire turned to the soldiers and said, "We shall set up a perimeter around these doors so that…AAA!" A laser bolt hit Starfire in the back, knocking her onto her back. The other soldiers turned around to face the attacker, but found no one. Instead, a flurry of laser bolts came out of nowhere and hit each and every soldier, killing them. Starfire got back up to her feet to hear a voice saying, "Do you remember this room, dear Starfire." Starfire looked up as she instantly recognized the voice. She formed a star bolt with her hands as a hand came out of nowhere and knocked her hand sideways. A series of fists connected with her face. Each hit was so strong and unexpected that Starfire fell to the ground. Starfire tried to raise her hand to get one star bolt up again as a final attempt at a defense. Then a boot came down on her hand. Starfire groggily looked up to see a familiar face. "The last time we met here, you defeated and banished me from Tamaran, little sister."

Starfire was able to gasp, "Blackfire."

Blackfire smiled sinisterly at her sister in her defeated state, "So glad you remember me. And thank you for helping me find our parents. Now my plan can be carried out."

Starfire tried to fight to get up, but Blackfire shot a long and painful beam from her eyes down on Starfire, who screamed in pain before fading out. The last thing she heard before blacking out was her sister saying, "Having you here is just an added bonus in the bomb my army placed below the citadel. It will destroy more than just this dump, but also our precious Tamaran as well."

To Be Continued…


	4. Evacuation

The Keeper of the House

By: Darien Ravier

Part I: The Fading of the Lavender Crown

Chapter 4: Evacuation

The Teen Titans stood in the middle of the Tamaranian citadel, a normally breathtakingly regal place, where the lobby was vast and the decorations were awe-inspiring. Now the decorations were in shambles and the Titans were surrounded by an amazing number of soldiers that were leading an uprising against Tamaran and it's royal family, which included their friend Starfire. Despite the overwhelming odds, the Titans fought the army so their partner and friend would be safe.

Robin fought each of the soldiers off with a deadly combination of martial arts and an extensive arsenal of weapons at his disposal in his utility belt. One soldier would stand up to him and Robin would take him down in hand-to-hand combat, but two or three other soldiers would approach from behind. Robin turned in enough time to toss a strobe light bomb that blinded all the soldiers in his radius. Taking this opportunity to get away, Robin then fired a grappling hook at the ceiling that pulled him above the battle. Robin looked around to get an assessment of the situation. He saw all of his teammates fighting off at least ten other members of the uprising's army, along with the rest of the Tamaranian army, who were equally overwhelmed. Robin didn't want to admit it to himself, but this fight was turning hopeless fast.

As he began to swing down, he heard a soldier screaming from across the hallway.

"Robin!" the voice said, which made Robin's head turn to see R'yannd'r being led away by a swarm of uprising soldiers. To the side, Robin also saw hundreds of soldiers entering every entrance of the palace hallway. Robin had to act fast, keep fighting the soldiers or save his friend.

Robin yelled at the top of his lungs, "Titans, follow me!"

Cyborg looked up as four soldiers were holding him down. Normally, he would have just thrown them off, but these were no ordinary soldiers, they were Tamaranian. Grown-up guy equivalents of Starfire, so they were exceptionally strong and giving Cyborg a hard time overpowering them, which he was so used to doing in a fight. Cyborg tried to use his arm cannon, but one soldier was holding it down. He looked up to see Robin swinging over his head.

"Little help, here," Cyborg yelled.

Robin let go of the grappling hook and landed a perfect flying crescent kick on two soldiers, knocking them off Cyborg. Cyborg then flung the other two off as he and Robin turned to see themselves surrounded by the army of the uprising, ready to attack. Robin and Cyborg took their fighting stances, ready to face the inevitable when a pillar swung down and cleared a path. Robin and Cyborg turned to see Raven flying towards them on a mystic platform she created and was using like a surfboard.

"Yee-hah! Come on, boys, climb aboard," Raven yelled in an overconfident manner completely unlike herself. Robin and Cyborg looked at each other in disbelief as to what they were seeing, but still got on board the skiff nonetheless. As they climbed up and looked at Raven, they could have both sworn that her cape had turned green.

Below them, a green Anklosaurus was swiping at the soldiers with his plated tail. The soldiers tried to attack the creature, but his protective armor was too strong. One soldier jumped on his back and within seconds, the Anklosaurus had turned into a bull and began to buck the soldiers off of his back, knocking him into the other soldiers. Beast Boy then transformed back into himself and was taking a fighting stance, yelling, "Yeah, who wants some, come on!" He saw the hundreds of soldiers lining up to protect him. Knowing that this moment meant his life, Beast Boy quickly transformed into his ultimate beast persona, ready to attack when Raven and the others flew by.

Raven called out, "Come on, B.B., you through wasting time?" The beast looked up and jumped onto the platform. Beast Boy transformed into his normal self and stared confused at Raven, asking, "Hey, Rae, you okay?"

"Fine as Friday, how about you," Raven answered.

Beast Boy turned to Robin and said, "I thought she hated war."

Robin answered, "So did I, I'm as confused as you are."

"So what's the plan," Cyborg asked."

"We're going after R'yannd'r and the other captives."

"What happened?"

Starfire's eyes blinked open as she heard the sounds of explosions outside. She tried to get to her feet, but felt extremely dizzy. As she tried to shake off what it was that caused her to feel this way, she remembered her sister, Blackfire, beating her before she blacked out.

"I have been hit by my sister before," Starfire thought, "but never like this. She seems much stronger now. What happened? I guess she finally grew up."

Starfire walked in a slow zigzag down the hallway, constantly leaning against the wall. She put her hand on her head to keep it from spinning, but it wasn't working. Her hand slid down her cheek. As it did, she felt something strange on her. She looked at her hand and saw blood. She put her hand to her mouth again and pulled it back to see only more blood.

Starfire got mad. As she heard the sound of explosions in the background, she tried to pull herself together.

"Okay, what happened before I blacked out," Starfire asked herself. She remembered being hit repeatedly by her sister, but never being able to see her, and she also remembered how her sister was able to wipe out the small army that was with her all by herself.

"Something has definitely changed in my sister," Starfire thought, "But I must defeat her." Why, she asked herself. She knew she had to stop her sister, but why? What did she say to Starfire to get her so fired up? Another explosion went off outside and it triggered something in Starfire's memory.

A bomb.

A bomb placed blow the citadel.

A bomb that would not only destroy the citadel, but Tamaran as well.

Starfire instantly shook off the pain she was feeling and flew upwards, searching the hallways for her sister. One hallway after another, there was nothing, yet Starfire still flew with intensity to find her sister. Outside, she heard the screams of her fellow soldiers, which only enraged her further. Then, she heard a more familiar scream, which made her fly over to the window. Below, she saw her friends, Robin, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy all fighting an army that had amassed around them. Robin was letting out a battle cry that Starfire had never heard in him before. It was higher pitched and sounded like what Robin explained to her was Japanese. The warrior in Robin was coming out and Starfire knew that sound would only come out when things were at their most grave.

"Robin," she screamed from over two hundred stories up. All of the soldiers heard this and looked up to see Starfire leaping down from the window and firing starbolt after starbolt at the army around her friends. The army tried to fire back, but Starfire was too enraged to slow down long enough to be hit. By the time she descended on the army, she had already taken out at least a tenth of their numbers. She fought each of the uprising soldiers off with such tenacity that many of them decided to turn and run into the woods.

Starfire ran after the soldiers, screaming and chasing them off. Robin merely looked at her in disbelief. The once normally shy and sweet-natured girl that he knew was now standing before him with a bruised and battered face, which only blanketed her war-like face. Robin then back at the other Titans. Cyborg was actually looking pretty melancholy, Raven was still in her green cape and pumping her fists into the air and Beast Boy just stood in a ready-to-fight position. Robin took a breath as he realized that his team was changing.

"Beast Boy, you okay," Robin asked.

"Fine," Beast Boy answered plainly.

"No jokes or anything like that," Robin asked suspiciously.

"Nope, just waiting for the next fight."

"Boo-yah! We kicked their butts, didn't we," Raven was yelling triumphantly.

Robin turned his head to the sound of rockets were heard in the distance. The whole team looked to see a series of ships taking off from the ground into Tamaran's stratosphere.

"Hah, got you off and running now, don't we," Raven said.

"They are not running," Starfire said, "They are evacuating. There is a bomb beneath the citadel that will destroy the palace…and with it…Tamaran."

"Can we stop it?"

"No, we can't," Raven answered with her eyes glowing white.

"How can you tell," Robin asked.

"It's an ion destabalizer," Raven continued, "Right now, I can feel it already affecting the core of Tamaran. It will only be a matter of minutes before Tamaran is completely destroyed.

Starfire's mouth hung open. "So what can we do," she asked.

"Get as many people off this planet as we can," Raven said.

Starfire levitated and began to fly back towards the citadel saying, "Starting with my parents."

"Star," Robin interceded, "There's something else."

Starfire looked at him and asked, "What is it, Robin?" Robin remained silent. Starfire asked, "Why is it so hard for you to tell me?"

Robin took a moment before saying, "When you saved us out here, we were going after R'yannd'r. Starfire, you're brother's been taken prisoner."

Starfire was taken aback and just hovered in the air for a moment before slowly landing. She was quiet for a moment as her mind decided who she would to go after. Before she could answer, a light flashed on her from above. As she looked up, she saw that a swarm of the Uprising's attack ships had spotted them and had turned around. Within a matter of seconds, the parade of attack ships surrounded the Titans, leaving them no place to escape. Robin signaled his team to be ready, but before they could attack, a squadron of Tamaranian attack ships cut them off and fired back at the Uprising's ships, forcing them to retreat back into the stratosphere. The Tamaranian attack ships followed in hot pursuit, except for three larger ones, which landed in front of the Titans.

The bay door opened in front of them, revealing Galfor. Starfire flew towards him and hugged him tightly. "Oh, Kanorfka, thank you," she said.

"Anything for my bumgorf," Galfor answered as he looked into the troubled eyes of Starfire. He asked, "What troubled you, Koriannd'r?"

Starfire hung her head and said, "Oh, Galfor, it's all over. Our planet, our way of life. Blackfire planted an ion destabalizer that threatens every passing minute of Tamaran. Now, I have to decide whether I should save my imprisoned brother or my parents who have ascended to the top of the citadel."

Galfor nudged Starfire's head upwards and said, "What does our empress decide?"

"But Galfor," Starfire pleaded, "I am no longer empress, I gave that title up to you."

"And I am seeking your advice," Galfor replied, "Now, what are our orders?"

Starfire took a deep breath, then flew up to one of the pilot's windshields and yells something in Tamaranian. Upon hearing his orders, the pilot revs his engines and lowers the cargo bay holders. Starfire then stands in front of Galfor and says, "I choose for you to go after my parents." Galfor hugs Starfire and says, "They will be safe with me." With that, Galfor enters his ship and takes off towards the citadel. Starfire then turns to the Titans and says, "We will go after my brother." Robin nods and walks with Starfire towards the ship. The other Titans follow him into the ship, which takes off over the treeline.

"Approaching an uprising outpost, Koriannd'r," the pilot announced. Starfire walked into the cockpit and asked, "Are there any signs of prisoners?" The pilot scanned the surface and said, "Yes, your brother does appear to be among them."

"Then commence attack positions," Starfire announced as the pilot prepared the ship's weapons.

Robin walked into the back room to see Raven sitting in a corner by herself with an uncomfortable look on her face. Robin walked over to her and asked, "Raven, are you feeling okay?"

Raven looked up with a heavy sigh, "I can feel this planet coming apart, Robin. It's not long before it's completely destroyed. We have to get out of here."

"I know," Robin said, trying to comfort Raven, "we're gonna get Starfire's brother, then we'll get out of here."

"I don't like this. It's not going to end well."

Robin wanted to say something comforting, but instead, he just hung his head. Within seconds, a siren was heard that brought both Robin and Raven to their feet. Robin saw Cyborg passing by and asked, "Cyborg, what's going on?"

"We're attack the uprising's compound."

Hundreds of soldiers scattered as the Tamaranian battleship descended upon the small outpost and began firing at everything moving. Soldiers rushed to get to their stations, but would find them demolished before they got there. The battleship ripped through each battlepost and command center before all of the soldiers ran to their ships.

Starfire, not able to take sitting back, decided to rush over to the cargo bay, open the door, and fly out on her own. She surveyed the territory, yelling, "R'yannd'r, R'yannd'r! Where are you?" Some of the Uprising's attack ships rose up in front of her, but Starfire merely outstretched her hands and something happened she didn't expect. A flurry of starbolts flew out of each fingertip like lightning bolts, tearing the ships to pieces. Starfire looked at her hands in disbelief. How was she able to react this fast?

Not wanting to dwell on something so trivial, she searched the remaining compounds for her brother until she came to one building. She burst the reinforced door down and stood face to face with her brother, who was tied up against the wall. However, standing in their way was a fairly sizable Uprising soldier, who delivered a strong right hook to Starfire, knocking her back outside. As she got to her feet, she saw the gigantic soldier running after her, swinging again. Before his fist could connect, she flew off of the ground and then threw a series of jabs to his face, which seemed to only faze him. Starfire knew that she was more powerful than her punches seemed to do to this man. The man threw an uppercut that not only took Starfire off guard, but lifted her two feet off of the ground and sent her crashing on her back.

Shaking off the damage, she charged her fist with a powerful starbolt and then punched the man in the face, which sent the soldier reeling in pain. Starfire got up and then fired a series of starbolts at the man, which kept him shriveled on the ground. Finally, Starfire had decided that she had enough of fooling with this man, so she fired the most powerful beam she could muster from her eyes. Upon connecting with the soldier, the beam seemed to engulf him before disintegrating him.

Starfire stood in awe as to what she had just done. Something inside her was changing, become more powerful than she was used to. Under any other normal circumstance, she would have been excited, welcoming this change and any attempt she'd make to understand it. But instead, she felt only fear that she wouldn't be able to control herself in the middle of a battle.

"Koriannd'r, are you allright," yelled R'yannd'r from inside the compound. Starfire looked up to see R'yannd'r standing up and looking at her with concern. Starfire flew over and broke the bonds that tied his hands behind his back. R'yannd'r hugged Starfire saying, "Thank you for coming for me."

"I would not have left you to die, my brother," Starfire said. She then broke the hug and rushed back into the Tamaranian battleship. R'yannd'r, trailing behind, asked, "Sister, what is the hurry?"

"Our parents are still in the citadel and we must go back for them," Starfire yelled in a panic. As she rushed towards the cockpit, Raven called out from behind, "Starfire, no!"

Starfire stopped dead in her tracks and turned to Raven, who was trying to stand up, but was obviously in pain.

"Starfire, this planet is about to be destroyed," Raven explained weakly, "I strongly suggest that we leave now."

"I can't abandon my parents, Raven," Starfire explained.

"You didn't, you sent Galfor after them."

"I have to help them, I can not just stand here and do nothing while my planet gets destroyed."

Raven walked up placed her hand on Starfire's shoulders, looked her in the eyes and said, "Starfire, you've done all you've can and there is still more that you can do for your people, but they'd need you alive. If you really want to help them, then don't put yourself at risk."

"I want to do so much more," Starfire explained, "I've been away for so long…"

Before Starfire could finish her thoughts, Raven lost her footing and began to collapse on the ground. Starfire quickly grabbed Raven before she could fall on the ground.

"Raven, what is wrong," Starfire asked.

"We have to go now," Raven said.

Starfire looked back in the direction of the citadel, then to the pilot and said, "Pilot, take us off of Tamaran."

The pilot nodded and the ship ascended upwards towards space.

Starfire entered the infirmary and sat down to take a breath. She finally let the pain from the fight with the soldier and her sister take over as she fell down on the cot. All this time, she wanted to be strong for her planet and her people, but now here she was running from its demise. She looked out of the window at her planet as she saw the ground beneath her get smaller and smaller until it became engulfed in clouds. Soon, the clouds turned black and she saw Tamaran from the outside view from space.

"Anyone out there, this is emperor Myand'r of Tamaran, sending a distress call to anyone who will answer." The emperor had been frantically calling anyone who would listen. He looked back at his wife, Luand'r, who was trying to enhance the signal on the other side of the room.

"Anything yet," Luand'r asked.

"Nothing," Myand'r replied, "And I am no longer hearing any war noises outside."

"You are right, it has been too silent outside."

"I wonder what is going on."

At that moment, there was a pounding sound from outside the barricaded doors. Myand'r and Luand'r both grabbed their rifles nearby and pointed them at the doors. Then a voice from outside yelled, "Emperor, it is Galfor." Myand'r lowered his rifle and rushed to the doors, pulling all of the barriers away from the door and opening it. Galfor rushed in and said, "Emperor, we must leave this place now. There is an ion destabalizer below this citadel.

Myand'r and Luand'r both were in a state of shock at this news. Luand'r asked, "Who would do such a thing?"

"It was Kommand'r, your highness," Galfor said.

"Our daughter," Myand'r said in disbelief, "Why would she do such a thing?"

"It is a long story, but we have no time to explain."

A violent earthquake shook the entire palace, knocking down equipment, breaking walls and shattering the floors. Once the tremors stopped, Galfor looked up at the royal couple and said, "It is already beginning, we must leave now."

"How are we to escape this," Luand'r asked over the loud crashing behind her.

"We must get to the hanger on the ground level," Galfor said.

"But that's nearly two hundred levels below," Myand'r replied.

"That is why we must leave now."

As Galfor, Myand'r and Luand'r raced down the hallways as more tremors shook the ground from underneath them. They leapt over gaps in the hallways, dodged falling pieces of the ceiling and within minutes, they had reached the hanger just as it the support beams were beginning to collapse. Galfor rushed everyone into his ship and started the engine. As the ship began to levitate, a support beam gave way in front of them and sent a series of boulders crashing down, blocking their way out. Galfor, beginning to get frustrated, grabbed the controls for the ships cannons and let loose a hellfire of energy blasts that eventually chipped the boulders away. Soon, the pathway was clear for them. Galfor punched the controls for the engine to hit full throttle and the ship took off with a powerful burst. As the ship soared through the hanger, pieces of the structure were falling all around them, even hitting the ship itself. Myand'r, who had taken the co-pilot's seat right next to Galfor asked, "How soon until we clear Tamaran's atmosphere?"

"At this rate, around two minutes."

The ship finally blasted out of the hanger as Galfor and Myand'r looked in front of them in horror. The tremors were eating many holes in the terrain, swallowing everything and everyone around them. Some of the holes created by the quakes actually had lava spew out from them as well. All hell was breaking loose on Tamaran as Myand'r and Luand'r looked at each other, hoping to find comfort as the ship made it's way into the atmosphere.

Starfire could see the violent changes on Tamaran even from the distance she was at in space. It brought tears to her eyes, but she noticed something from a far that made her want to sit up and look closer. It was a small glowing speck that was quickly rushing into space. Starfire looked closer and could recognize that it was Galfor's ship. A smile had finally returned to her face as she screamed for joy. She knew the only way that Galfor would return was with her parents safely on board. She was overjoyed, but the smile quickly left her face as from behind the ship, she saw the terrain of Tamaran break out in small bursts of orange and yellow. Soon, the entire planet became a giant fireball that exploded outwards into space. Starfire took a few steps back as the fireball actually lit up the blackness of space for a short while. She then noticed that the flames were rapidly approaching Galfor's ship from behind. She stared in anticipation, hoping that he would outrun the flames. But the flames were spreading too rapidly and eventually encased Galfor's ship. Starfire saw the ship glow orange, then eventually disintegrate into nothing.

"NOOO!" Starfire screamed at the top of her lungs as the flames finally dissipated and tapered off. She looked into the flames and saw that there was nothing left of Tamaran. The planet that she once held so dear in her memories now only existed as memories. She collapsed on the floor, ready to cry when R'yannd'r entered the room. Starfire turned to her brother and the two siblings embraced and began to cry. Starfire clung to her only family member as tightly as she could before he broke the hug to look her in the eyes.

"I know this is a hard time for you, Starfire," R'yannd'r said, "but something is happening right now that we need your help with."

"I do not know, brother," Starfire said between sobs, "I'm not sure of what else I can do right now."

"We really need you."

"For what."

"The hundreds of other Tamaranian ships that escaped into space to escape the war are calling in. They want to know what the next plan for Tamaran is."

"What are they asking for," Starfire wondered.

"Some ask for permission to settle on other systems while others ask for the blood of the uprising's army. They await your orders."

"Why do they need my orders"

"They are asking for Empress Koriannd'r to give them their next plans. All of them are asking for you."

Starfire wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to look back at the void that was once Tamaran. She said, "Please, brother, let me have a moment alone." R'yannd'r turned away and walked back outside. As he did, he passed Robin in the hallway. They both stopped.

"I'm sorry for what happened to Tamaran," Robin said.

"Thank you," R'yannd'r said, "But it was not your fault to be sorry."

"If there's anything I can do," Robin began to say.

"You can go be with my sister," R'yannd'r said as he walked away. Robin looked back at the infirmary room.

As Robin walked inside, he saw Starfire bandaging up her wounds as she looked out the window. Robin walked up behind her and said, "Starfire, I don't know what to say to help you." Starfire only finished tying the bandage around her wrist as she continued to look out of the window. "Raven and Cyborg think we ought to return home, but we'd understand if you'd want to stay."

"And why would I not stay with my people, Robin," Starfire asked.

"I thought you would say that, but I want to remind you that you do still have a home, with us."

Starfire still looked outside as she said, "Do you see that pattern of stars there?" Robin walked over to the window as Starfire outlined the pattern of a circular "M" shape. Robin said, "Yeah, I see it."

"It was the first constellation charted by my people when the citadel was built to unite the colonies of Tamaran. What drew them to the pattern was that one in the center, the one that seems to shine purple. For an entire year, that one bright star in the center would never leave its place in Tamaran's sky. It became the beacon for all space navigators to use to find Tamaran. In fact, the royal crown was modeled after that constellation as a symbol of the harmony that we wanted for our planet. The constellation was then named B'an Giamdri P'lian, which means The Lavender Crown. Ever since its discovery, the purple star in the center shined brightly. Now that Tamaran is not there, I have been watching that purple star lose its luminosity and as I do, I can't help but think that if I don't do something, then our people will begin to fade away as well."

"Starfire, I promised to back you up any way that I could and I will," Robin said, "but I'm afraid as to what will happen to myself, the other Titans, even you if we stay behind."

"Then you do not have to stay, but I will to lead my people into one final battle against my sister where we will either have our revenge or we will be remembered for our courage. Either way, Tamaran will not fade so easily and I will make sure of that."

To Be Continued…


End file.
